Following a challenging road-heavy stretch, the banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers open a brief homestand looking to resume their pursuit of the Eastern Conference's second seed.
With Kevin Love expected to return, the Cavs seek their 14th consecutive home win Wednesday night against a Brooklyn Nets team that has little room for error in its quest to reach the playoffs.
Cleveland (43-26) went 10-5 over a difficult portion of the schedule that had 12 of 15 games away from Quicken Loans Arena, but appeared to finally hit its wall in a 106-92 loss at Miami on Monday.
The Cavs shot 38.0 percent from the field and allowed the Heat to shoot 55.3 percent in their worst defeat since Feb. 12.
LeBron James finished with 26 points on 8-of-19 shooting as the Central Division leaders lost for only the fifth time in the last 28 games the four-time MVP has played. James needed treatment on his sore knee throughout the day but decided to play.
"Every game is another opportunity for us to get better," said James, who also jammed his wrist Monday. "If I'm able to go, then I'll be out there with my teammates. That's just how it is. Everything hurts, but I'm alright."
Kyrie Irving took a shot to his quad in the contest, though both he and James are expected to play as the Cavs host Brooklyn (27-38) and Indiana before going out on another three-game trip.
Irving had 21 points on 5-of-15 shooting against the Heat after totaling 90 in his previous two games. The All-Star point guard has totaled 23 points on just 8-of-28 shooting in two meetings with the Nets.
Kevin Love is also set to return after resting the past two games. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a 110-88 win at Brooklyn on Dec. 8, but only scored six on 1-of-10 shooting in a 95-91 home victory Dec. 19.
Cleveland owns a two-game lead over third-place Toronto and a 2 1/2-game edge over Chicago with 13 remaining.
"We have to finish in second place," coach David Blatt insisted. "Where and if there is a chance to rest guys, we will. We certainly want to do as well as we can to finish as high as we can."
The Cavs have to like their chances at home, where they've won by an average of 15.7 points during their best run at Quicken Loans since a 16-game winning streak from Feb. 11-April 12, 2009.
They also own a plus-6.2 margin on the glass during the run and have outrebounded the Nets 99-70 in the season series.
It might be too little, too late for Brooklyn, which seeks a season high-tying third straight win. Joe Johnson had 22 points, Bojan Bogdanovic added 21 and Thaddeus Young scored 19 in Monday's 122-106 victory at Minnesota.
The Nets improved to 2-1 on their four-game road swing, but are in 11th place - 2 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.
Brooklyn set a franchise record with 78 points in the paint Monday and is averaging an NBA-best 51.4 since the All-Star break. Cleveland, meanwhile, has been outscored 144-118 in that area over its last three games.
"Getting me going, getting guys driving to the paint and making plays for other guys and getting Brook (Lopez) going, if we can do those type of things each and every game, we'll be fine," Young said.
The Nets have dropped their past three trips to Cleveland.
